Question: I have one circuit in my house that appears not grounded on my plug-in circuit tester, although the electrician I called tells me that the hot/ground voltage is around 66 volts. He says there’s probably a ground wire that’s not tightly connected somewhere in the circuit, since the hot/ground at the breaker is 110 volts. Two questions:

1. Is there a gizmo that would allow me to track the wire from the breaker to the first box on the line without tearing out walls (all outlets appear to have the same problem)?

2. How dangerous is it to have only partial grounding for the circuit? Electrician wants to charge $1500 to find the problem, and that seems pretty steep to me.

I’ve done a bit of wiring, and I’m pretty sure I could fix the problem if I could locate the line, but wife will kill me if I go tearing up walls to find it. Any help will be much appreciated.

Additional Comments:

Dave’s Reply:
Thanks for your electrical question Gordon.

No need to tear open walls or pay $1500 to find the problem (that is an insane amount for the electrician to quote!)

Electrical Wiring and Electrical Repairs

Unless otherwise posted, please refer to the following Guidelines for Electrical Projects:
Skill Level:
Intermediate to Advanced - Electrical Repairs and Circuit Wiring is Best Performed by a Certified Electrician or Licensed Electrical Contractor.
Electrical Tools Required:
Basic Electricians Pouch of Hand Tools, a Voltage Tester and a Multi Meter.
Estimated Time:
Depends on personal level experience, ability to work with tools, work with electrical wiring, and the available access to the project area.
Precaution:
Identify the project circuit, turn it OFF and Tag it with a Note before working with the wiring.
Important:
Modifying existing electrical circuits or installing additional electrical wiring should be done according to local and National Electrical Codes, with a permit and be inspected.